D&D 5E Anyone else have a problem with Sculpt Spells?

[Wiseblood]

It irks me that aoe spells are not aoe. They are mass targeting spells. Where the target does not need to be seen by the caster and the caster needs no line of sight. The spell acts as a multi-headed friend or foe missile. The player's decision making is limited to what type of damage and how hard do I hit.


I'm sorry if my font size is wonky. My android is acting like a fool.

 

[jaelis]

It irks me that aoe spells are not aoe. They are mass targeting spells. Where the target does not need to be seen by the caster and the caster needs no line of sight. The spell acts as a multi-headed friend or foe missile. The player's decision making is limited to what type of damage and how hard do I hit.

I'm a little confused what you are unhappy with.

My picture of AoE spells is that the effect fills the entire area. Sculpt Spells allows you to modify that, and form a more complex area with some holes in it. That seems OK to me.

It bugs me a bit that you can put a hole in a line effect that essentially breaks the line. It's hard to understand, say, a lightning bolt acting that way. But this doesn't seem like your concern?

 

[Uller]

Yeah...it irks me a little. Not enough to make me throw my hands up and give up on the game. Just a mild smh sort of thing. Last night my group got in a melee that they underestimated. Two martial arts adepts, throwing three attacks per round, each attakc requiring a dc 13 save to avoid stunning, falling prone or dropping weapons. To top it off the Will o wisp that was trailing them jumped into the fray. So...the evoker did what evokers do and dropped firball in the middle of everything. One of my pkayers is an old highschool buddy that played only 1e and 2e so he was very confused why the wizard was able to do this in a small room in a melee. Used to be it would have blown the doors off the room and sent fire shootung down the hallways...

But whatever. The fireball tilted the fight back in the party's favor in exchange for their highest level spellslot. No one was not gaving fun because of it. So it's all good.

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[The Crimson Binome]

It irks me that aoe spells are not aoe. They are mass targeting spells. Where the target does not need to be seen by the caster and the caster needs no line of sight. The spell acts as a multi-headed friend or foe missile. The player's decision making is limited to what type of damage and how hard do I hit.

A mass targeting spell wouldn't be able to hit a hidden target, but a sculpted area would be unable to avoid them.

It's definitely an area of effect. It's just a more complicated area of effect.

 

[Wiseblood]

I'm a little confused what you are unhappy with.

My picture of AoE spells is that the effect fills the entire area. Sculpt Spells allows you to modify that, and form a more complex area with some holes in it. That seems OK to me.

It bugs me a bit that you can put a hole in a line effect that essentially breaks the line. It's hard to understand, say, a lightning bolt acting that way. But this doesn't seem like your concern?

The line thing is wierd too. For me I am just tired of seeing the same damn two spells as round 1 and round 2 because there is no consequence to fireballing your party/self.

 

[jaelis]

The line thing is wierd too. For me I am just tired of seeing the same damn two spells as round 1 and round 2 because there is no consequence to fireballing your party/self.

Ah I see, fair enough. I suspect though that you would be even more frustrated to have a diviner in the party

 

[bganon]

The specific perk of being an evoker is being able to blast a room without killing your friends.

Fireball still ignites everything flammable that isn't being worn/carried, so it's not like it's a totally free pass. Maybe I'm cruel, but as a DM I'd make sure that this at least occasionally causes issues.

And honestly, the conventional wisdom is that there are 2 or 3 other traditions better than Evoker.

 

[Mort]

The line thing is wierd too. For me I am just tired of seeing the same damn two spells as round 1 and round 2 because there is no consequence to fireballing your party/self.

Well, there's no consequence because the mage chose that particular tradition.

Frankly, I'm glad to see evocation actually get a nice ability like this because it encourages spell-slinging without having to get out the ruler or constantly worry about mage friendly fire.

Also, the usefulness of this ability somewhat makes up for the fact that the 6th level evoker ability is all but worthless!

 

[Croesus]

My group has a wizard/evoker and Sculpt Spell has never been a problem. It allows evokers to use AoE spells in some situations where they wouldn't, which is certainly cool for the wizard player. But taking the Evocation school means forgoing other abilities, such as Divination Savant and Minor Conjuration. And given the higher average hit points of enemies in this edition, evocation spells are often not the best choice.

 

[Fanaelialae]

It bugs me a bit that you can put a hole in a line effect that essentially breaks the line. It's hard to understand, say, a lightning bolt acting that way. But this doesn't seem like your concern?

I see it as simply arcing around the target.

The line thing is wierd too. For me I am just tired of seeing the same damn two spells as round 1 and round 2 because there is no consequence to fireballing your party/self.

I'm AFB right now, but I'm pretty sure you can't fireball yourself. I'm pretty sure Sculpt Spell only works on other creatures, not the caster. (I'm speaking in terms of RAW, obviously).